Midland council unanimously authorizes special counsel agreement, appoints interim city attorney

The City Council of Midland, Texas, on Oct. 27 unanimously authorized the mayor to negotiate and execute an employment agreement with John Ona Miller to serve as special counsel and approved a separate resolution appointing Nicholas Tule Crump as interim city attorney.

The measures were taken during a short special session. The presiding official opened the meeting by thanking John Ona Miller for his service and introduced item one, a resolution authorizing the mayor to negotiate and execute an employment agreement with John Ona Miller to serve in the position of special counsel to the City of Midland, Texas. John Ona Miller said, "Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Obviously, you don't spend 25 years with an organization unless you really love it." The council moved for action on the item; the motion carried unanimously.

The council then considered item two, a resolution authorizing the appointment of Nicholas Tule Crump to the position of interim city attorney of the City of Midland, Texas, and authorizing the mayor to negotiate and execute an employment agreement with Nicholas Tule Crump. The presiding official asked for comments; one council member offered congratulations. The council moved and seconded the item and voted; the motion carried unanimously.

Council members asked about the process for finalizing the special counsel agreement, including whether the full council would have input. A council member noted that if the mayor's negotiations include the entire council, that would need to occur in a public meeting; the presiding official and another council member said they expected the agreement would return to an executive meeting or a later public meeting so the council could review it before finalization. The transcript records that John Ona Miller is expected to be with the city through July, but no effective dates for the agreements were specified in the discussion.

Both votes were recorded in the meeting as unanimous; the transcript does not record individual roll-call votes or tallies of yes/no/abstain by name. The meeting adjourned at 10:36 a.m.

Votes at a glance: Item 1 — "Resolution authorizing the mayor to negotiate and execute an employment agreement with John Ona Miller to serve in the position of special counsel to the City of Midland, Texas." Outcome: approved (motion carried unanimously; individual votes not specified). Item 2 — "Resolution authorizing the appointment of Nicholas Tule Crump to the position of interim city attorney of the City of Midland, Texas and authorizing the mayor to negotiate and execute an employment agreement with Nicholas Tule Crump." Outcome: approved (motion carried unanimously; individual votes not specified).